An alternate spin: ITSOTGM
by hellsbells101
Summary: A retelling of the events of ITSOTGM based on a what if? The scenario being Sam's fiancée was not Lisa but rather CJ.


Disclaimer: I do not own the West Wing, I only own my twisted imagination.

A/N I caught on to the West Wing incredibly late and it is safe to I was hooked.

CJ Cregg was in shock; she heard the shout of gun and froze. Someone was pushing her down, the noise and panic was incredible. She landed hard, she thought that the White House day-to-day was organised chaos but this was true panic. The initial moments were horrific, she could have sworn she felt Sam kiss her neck but he was gone. She wanted to find Sam, before she could concentrate on anything else; she needed to know Sam was okay.

The paramedic who was treating her stopped her, "Ma'am are you CJ Creeg."

"Yes. Where is my husband?"

"I don't know Ma'am." The paramedic continued to treat her.

She felt her equilibrium return a fraction when she felt Sam touch her shoulder. "Sam." It was said half relief, half sob. Sam engulfed her in a hug, which made her feel safe, if only for a minute. Sam kissed her cheek, "I'm so glad your okay, stay here I'll find out what is going on."

Sam was beyond relieved to see CJ was okay. He had on instinct pulled CJ down, only to be immediately pulled away by his detail. He was beyond pissed that his agent refused to tell him anything. He needed to gain control, this was the worst crisis they had faced and in order to face it he needed information. He stared down his agent, "I need the reports, I need to know my wife is okay and then I need to know the whereabouts of the senior staff."

The agent looked at him for a minute, gauging his reaction and nodded before listening in on his microphone.

Sam listened as the reports filtered in; he knew that he and CJ were okay. In truth, he was only happy once he had seen CJ was being treated, all the agents reported in except for the agent in charge of Josh. Sam's apprehension was growing, "Where is the Josh Lyman?"

Almost as if an answer he heard Toby shout, "We need help over here?"

Sam turned to Gina; she was the lead agent on the ground until the ID agent got there. She was growing more nervous, Sam did not have time to reassure her, "You've got all the information you need but I need to go with my friend."

Gina was immeasurably grateful to Sam, while everyone was panicking the DDOC had helped organise everything, she also knew he was close to the DCOS.

Josh was in a bad way; Sam hoped-to-god his best friend would be okay. Although, after tonight's events he was sure that okay was a relative term. He could hear Josh mumbling, he knew to what he was referring to, "Josh you got me. We went to New Hampshire."

Josh was taken into the trauma room; all they could all do was wait. CJ came into the waiting room and walked straight into his arms. Sam instinctively drew his arms around CJ, grateful that she was okay. He could see she was still a little shell-shocked he led her to one of the chairs.

Toby came in pacing; Sam knew exactly what needed to be done. The terrible truth was that despite the tragedy the country still came first. He was writing the briefing but his mind could not help but wonder back to when Josh had come to get him.

* * *

><p><em>The meeting was driving him out of his mind. He was a lawyer and a damn good one but he knew that this was fundamentally wrong. He was not fond of New York, he preferred LA, not only was it his home state but CJ was there.<em>

_His boss gave him the perfect excuse to escape the boardroom for a few minutes. He hoped that by doing so, it would stop feeling like the walls were closing in on him._

_When his assistant informed him that Josh was there, it was a welcome surprise to break up the monotony of the meeting. _

_His old friend looked worn and still carried around his tattered backpack. Sam knew exactly what his friend wanted, "You want me to give up my cushy job to come and write speeches for Hoynes?"_

_Josh grinned, "Maybe, I'm on my way to Nashua, Leo wants me to come work for the real thing."_

_Sam shook his head ruefully, his friend always knew how to get to him but he had to think about CJ, "Josh I'm getting married to CJ in September."_

_Josh was shocked but happy for his friend. He knew he would not win yet, "Talk it over with her. Listen if this guy is the real thing should I come tell you."_

_That did get an actual smile out of his friend, "You won't have to. You have a lousy poker face my friend."_

* * *

><p>Leo came in wanting as much news as possible, he hated the fact that he could not go direct but the minute his friend had gone under, he needed to return to the White House.<p>

"Where are we?"

All he saw in the room were anxious faces; Sam looked up from his briefing pad and was the one to brief him on the situation. He was ripping a page out of his notes, which CJ took without looking, "Ceej has the briefing notes, the President is in recovery and we're still waiting on news for Josh."

Leo hated to do this to them, they were a family and one of their own was in danger but the fact remained, "Guys I know this is the worse time but we still have a country to run."

Sam was working on lawyer mode because if he was honest to himself it was the only way that he could still function, "Where are we on the 25th amendment?"

Leo sighed, "It would be better for everyone if we aren't asked about that."

Sam did not need to be a genius to understand that, he could see that the others were confused, yet neither he, nor Leo explained.

* * *

><p><em>Sam was stuck in this meeting and he was fed up. The night before he had stayed up for a long time talking to CJ and both had confessed though was ridiculously unhappy in their current jobs.<em>

_His boss was looking apoplectic but he was tired of biting his tongue. He was ranting and he was doing well and only was interrupted by his friends grinning face._

_In hindsight, he probably looked like a fool but he was leaving and not looking back. He strode confidently out the door, his boss shouting at him, "Where are you going?"_

"_New Hampshire."_

_He waited until they were outside before turning to Josh, "We'll go to New Hampshire but first we gotta go to LA otherwise Ceej is going to kill me."_

_Josh was more than happy to do this and if he was honest, he was curious. He knew CJ Cregg by reputation but he was not too sure he knew the woman his best friend was about to marry._

* * *

><p>Leo had asked him to do the day shows. Sam was more than happy to do them for CJ and the others. He agreed readily, "Sure I just need to go see CJ."<p>

The necklace he had given her needed to be returned. It had comforted him in the immediate aftermath and helped him to keep some equilibrium and remain calm. He could not afford to lose it; too much was at stake.

He bumped into CJ in the hallway. Not caring for their normal rules, he gave her a hug, "You okay."

He could see the relief, "Thank you for doing the morning shows."

Sam reassured her quietly, "Don't worry about it." He was reaching into his pocket to get the necklace, confessing, "I haven't had the chance to return this.

CJ's face showed a myriad of emotions, relief and love being the overwhelming ones. She needed to know, "Were you scared."

"For you." was the soft-spoken answer.

CJ sighed, "I can't wait for Josh to be okay and to sleep."

* * *

><p><em>CJ's day had gone from bad to worse, her fiancé was unable to get back to LA. She had been called into the office at 6:30 in the morning only to be fired and to top it all she had had lost her contact lenses. As she pulled up to the sidewalk, she noticed the strange rental and figured that her strange day was just beginning. She picked up her belongings and walked into her yard wondering who was waiting for her. The lack of Saab told her it was not Sam.<em>

"_Hello." She called out; it was at times like these she realised how bad her sight was._

"_CJ Cregg. I phoned the office only to be told you know longer work there. What did you do steal the office supplies?"_

_CJ was still a little huffy from the meeting, "Nope Roger Becker dropped 6 places and I told him it was because his movies suck."_

_Toby did not say anything else, he just ploughed on, "Jed Bartlett wants you to come and work for him."_

_CJ was curious and wanted to know more, she forgot though about the pool and yelped as she fell in. Toby was doing a poor job of hiding his amusement, "Do you want some help?"_

"_No." _

_Toby loved the fact that despite doing a passable impression of a drowned rat CJ still looked dignified. There little tête-à-tête was disrupted by new arrivals, which made Toby wonder why Josh Lyman was in LA. His companion was more concerned with CJ when he saw she was in the pool. He was already moving to the edge of the pool shrugging off his tailored suit jacket and handing it to CJ. _

_The couple ignored their guests and the young man seemingly ignored the fact CJ was soaking wet as he pulled her in for a hug. "What's the matter?"_

_CJ chuckled, "You know me to well spanky. Seems Tobus wants me to go and work for Governor Bartlet."_

_Sam smiled, this was going to be easier, "I should tell you I walked out of my job today to go and write for Bartlet."_

_Sam and CJ remembering they had company turned around to face Josh and Toby. They each introduced the unknown friend to the other one. CJ trying to keep Toby off guard asked, "What's the pay?"_

_Josh was not concerned, "Why what were you making before?"_

_CJ zinged back, "$550,000 a year."_

_Toby was not concerned and carried on, "Well Leo McGarry wants you as Press Secretary and we can offer you $700 a week." His focus turned to the guy beside CJ; Toby was yet unsure what to make of the young man. "What were you making?"_

_The startling blue eyes focussed upon him, and Toby could see the clear intelligence, "As a lawyer I was billing at $650 an hour. Speechwriting depended on whom I was writing for." Sam chuckled, "Mr Whitney was annoyed when the King of Belgium employed my services. He was horrified to find that he wanted my skills as a speechwriter."_

_Toby looked to Josh, wondering how Josh knew one of the more infamous ghost-writers around the game. The frustrating thing about this particular ghost was his fingerprints on major speeches from Senators, actors and as he already said the King of Belgium. Toby liked the work and knew that with a little guidance, he could be terrific and even though he would never admit it, he looked forward to the challenge._

_Toby shook his head in amusement, "Well it appears that you and I will be writing speeches together Princeton."_

_CJ narrowed her eyes, not liking his teasing tone, "He stays in one piece Tobus."_

_Toby still was not sure what to make of the couple but they fit in ways that he and Andrea did not. He held his hands up in mock surrender, "I wouldn't dream of getting between you and Princeton."_

_Sam wasn't rising to the bait, "Why is it no-one ever refers to you as Harvard?"Josh smirked, "Pit bull stuck before they even thought about it."_

_Sam snickered, "If we're going to Nashua we're going by plane."_

_The others assumed he meant a normal commercial plane. CJ could see the cogs already turning in his brain; she was grinning, "I knew my spin-boy was still in there."_

_Sam could see the looks of confusion on Toby and Josh's face and he smirked, "Make yourselves comfortable. We need to set things in motion."_

_Toby narrowed his eyes, "You forgot to mention you knew one of the best ghost writers around."_

_Josh shook his head, sighing, "Toby He's good but together you'll be great."_

_The couple came down to hear a heated political debate. CJ looked exasperated, "We're chartering a plane and I'm sorry honey but it's your turn to put the kids to bed spanky."_

_There heads whipped around comically, Toby horrified, "Excuse me Claudia Jean?"_

_CJ was unrepentant, "Well Pokey despite you being the eldest you're currently acting like the youngest."_

_Josh blinked, "Wow I haven't felt like an errant schoolboy in a long time. Does she do that to you Sam?"_

_Sam did not even blink before retorting, "I really don't want to know about your kinks."_

_In one statement, Toby started to like the young man. After all, Toby was happy to work with anyone that could put Josh Lyman in his place._

* * *

><p>Leo looked around the waiting room; full of worried staffers who were all desperately awaiting any news. Sam and CJ entered hand-in-hand hoping there was some good news. Sam also needed to update him about the White House. Sam was sitting down preparing a legal argument that would fly when the legal ramifications broke about the President's anaesthesia. Leo was comforting Donna, who was distraught about Josh. Leo swore to himself that he would find a way for the couple to be together without ramifications.<p>

CJ and Sam were doing an amazing job of keeping it together. CJ was more visibly shook up afterwards but was calmer now; Leo smiled seeing the reappearance of her necklace. Sam had surprised the hell out of him; he'd never doubted the younger mans abilities as a speechwriter but today he'd really stepped up to the plate.

His mind had drifted back to the first time he had met the couple.

* * *

><p><em>It had been a fraught cold day in New Hampshire. Josh and Toby had come into the offices angrily debating something about an issue the campaign wanted to raise. A few moments later, he noticed the sharply dressed, elegant couple who were standing behind the arguing pair.<em>

_The couple barely took any notice of their surroundings and shared a look that Leo could only describe as fond exasperation. CJ could tell the argument wasn't going to end any time soon so put her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly, "Kids!"_

_Josh and Toby stopped arguing to stare at the amused couple. Leo was impressed that neither of the couple wilted under the twin matching scowls. Josh was honest-to-god pouting, whined, "Sam you can't let her talk to me like that."_

_The young man was obviously the ghost speechwriter, Leo noticed that Sam was barely resisting the urge to strangle his friend, "I chartered a plane to get us here and have heard you argue about nothing but this issue since California. Listen to your mother and go to your rooms."_

_Everyone in the office started snickering; even Jed looked amused, everyone was surprised when Josh and Toby actually left to their offices. Leo looked to his best friend who was watching the entire exchange with a barely restrained glee, Jed asked him, "What's next?"_

_Sam opened his briefing folder, "CJ and I have pieced together two position papers. The first would be our position, the second one is Hoynes, I'll have a third paper which will hold the republican position sometime tomorrow."_

_The governor was slightly shocked by the efficiency, "He scanned the documents, he noticed they weren't just position papers, they held names of sympathetic interest groups and media personalities."_

_Bartlet wanted to clarify, "You prepared this on the plane."_

_Sam shrugged, "We needed the distraction from Toby and Josh. If it's okay with you Governor, I and CJ would like to find our room and crash."_

_He nodded, too engrossed in what he was reading._

_After a few moments, he looked up at Leo, "Well I don't know where you found them but we've found our senior staff."_

_Leo smiled, "Let's show the world a good man can get elected."_

_His old friend smiled, "So what's next?"_

_It was now his turn to pout thinking about his next tasks "I have to go and smooth my deputy's ego and Toby's ego about his new deputy."_

* * *

><p>Back in GW, the entire senior-staff was eagerly awaiting Josh regaining consciousness The President and Leo stood either side of the bed as the medication was adjusted. Leo was relieved to see Josh's eyes fluttering open, happy to see him even open his eyes, Josh was clearly mumbling something. The president leaned down, "What was that Son?"<p>

"What's next?"

A/N . As always please read and review.


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